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Lent, Week 6: Palm Sunday (Holy Week)

Today we look at Palm Sunday (or Passion Sunday), which kicks off Holy Week leading up to Jesus’ death. Who would have thought that the day Jesus triumphantly enters Jerusalem would be the same week of His betrayal and death on the cross? In Matthew 21:1-11, we see that the passage is titled “Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King”. Imagine you were there for that Palm Sunday, you hear there’s a Messiah among you, He’s a King, He’s the Lord of lords… The crowds are laying down their cloaks, waving these branches, saying hosanna in the highest! “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Many times throughout the Bible (Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:3, Mark 3:3) it says “prepare the way”, which may remind us of what we read above when the crowds were laying down their cloaks and laying down branches. The crowds were preparing the way for Jesus, even on a colt! They didn’t know what He would do next, but they knew they had to make way.

So where does that leave us? I don’t think any of us are expecting to go outside right now and lay down our North Face or Burberry jackets on the ground. So how do we prepare the way? The Bible says to prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight. We should note that it’s not that the Lord doesn’t like winding or curved roads but we ought to clear the way of all obstructions or hindrances that could keep Him from doing His will in our lives.

If you have things you’ve given up for Lent, or things that are holding you back, it’s time to do some spring cleaning. Have you noticed that refraining from these things makes a better way for Jesus to come? Jesus gave everything up for us in order for our crimson sins to be washed as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). His triumphant entry into Jerusalem is so that we can have a victory in our salvation from the cross and resurrection of our living Lord & Savior. Make worthy to God all of your praise this Holy Week, this Easter season, and with these lives that we have in Him.

Ultimately, instead of being on a throne as King, Jesus humbly took His place on the cross for our sins. So let’s prepare the way, knowing what’s to come this coming Holy Week: our Lord Jesus Christ suffering for us, exemplifying a love that’s humble & beyond how we can love. This, in fact, is the definition of the word “passion“… as in “The Passion Of The Christ”. The love Jesus showed on the cross spans farther than we can imagine. So we begin Holy Week with the palms and end with the cross…